


Sweeney Todd Told With a Twist

by FamiliarTasteOfFanfiction



Category: Sweeney Todd (2007)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-20 23:12:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14271600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FamiliarTasteOfFanfiction/pseuds/FamiliarTasteOfFanfiction
Summary: Nellie Lovett is expecting;Johanna and Anthony are preparing to settle down together;Judge Turpin lives...ever afterWelcome to my alternate universe of the Lovely, the Amazing, the Masterpiece: Sweeney Todd





	1. Blue Beginnings

~Past~

Nellie looked down at her perfectly-rounded stomach. She had kept it from Albert this long, although he hadn’t been paying much attention to her lately, so it wasn’t all too difficult.  
Any day now, the baby would be born. But she didn’t know what to do. Albert wasn’t supposed to know...He had a drinking problem, a bad temper and that was not a good environment for a child.  
Any day now, the baby would be born. The baby that Nellie would have to give up, for his or her own safety. It was already dangerous enough for her and she was a fully-grown woman, equally capable of standing up for herself.  
Any day now, she would become a mother. And any day now, she would become heartbroken over a decision that would benefit only the person for whom she pined so much.

Nellie looked down at the dirty floor, running her hands over the wood, caught in the middle of a sea- not of water- of screaming cries and mournful voices of exhausted children.  
The workhouse was no place for a child, especially not a baby, especially not a newborn. But it was safer, somehow, than her own home when her wretch of a husband dove into the channel of inebriation.  
There were no proper beds for any children of any age, but why should there be? Children in the workhouse were not supposed to be comfortable. They were there to work, to grow into hard-working adults and do as society asked of them. Work, work, work. No sleep, no school, no recreation, no love. Just work.  
Of course the floor was disgusting, but not as disgusting as the obvious disdain for young lives held by the men running the cruel establishment. But it would have to do. It was, after all, for the baby.  
Nellie sniffled, blinking tears from her eyes in a fruitless bout of effort, because those tears would just keep coming, no matter how she wiped them away.  
She kissed her baby, then left the boy on the dirt-covered, rot-smelling wood. One last look at him, one last look. One last look at the baby-  
She couldn’t bear it. Leaving her only child- her newborn child- in such a dreary place seemed so horrible. It was horrible. But it was better than what abuse might come for him at home.  
“Okay, Nellie-” she said, tears wrapping around her neck like his tiny hand around her spindly finger. “-You have to go...You have to go now...Leave him.”  
She didn’t want to wrench his tiny fingers away from hers. He would wake up crying, crying for her, for his mother. Wouldn’t he?  
The only way to know was to separate the little hand from its landline to warmth. Carefully, Nellie picked up one tiny finger after another, until the very last finger was detached and the bond was severed.  
The baby only yawned and moved a tiny bit in his sleep to get comfortable again.  
This made it even harder to leave him. What if he only started crying when her heartbeat- the only sound keeping him content- left him?  
There was only one way to find out about that, too.  
Slowly, gingerly, Nellie set the baby back on the floor and took a step back.  
He wasn’t crying. There was that, at least.  
Three more steps back, he was still sleeping. Just a few more steps to the door...Just a few more steps out of that horrid hole...just a few more steps out of his life...just a few more steps to pounding heartache and constant regret.  
No, he didn’t cry for her. But how long would it be until she started to cry for him?


	2. Your Mother Is Waiting

~Present~

“Toby?”  
Toby looked across the room, taking his eyes off the floor he was sweeping.  
“Toby, come here.”  
Toby threw his broom to the floor and walked over to the staircase.  
“I know you were looking for her, Toby. I want to help you.”  
“Couldn’t you get in trouble for that?” Toby asked.  
“I can’t get in trouble, not for helping you out of this hellhole.” William responded. “You’re my boy, Toby, but you’re old enough to know everything about you that’s been kept away from the light.”  
William Ragg was one of the supervisors at the workhouse. When he found Toby the night he had been left, he named him and became a father to him. But Toby was not the only child that William had taken under his wing; he had two older sons, whom he had named Cassius and Warren. He had helped them leave the workhouse three years ago. And he had two daughters, Maida and Winnifred, who he had helped escape almost two years ago. Cassius was eight by the time Tobias came into the small, unconventional family, Warren was five, Maida and Winnifred were four. But still, William had never let any of them feel neglected.  
“What?” Toby asked.  
“I saw your mother, on the night she left you here.” William answered.  
Toby’s jaw dropped and he stared, mouth agape at his dad. “You saw her? Who was she, what did she look like?”   
“I don’t know her name. I was working that night, up here, where I caught a glimpse of her, but that was all.” William said. “She was sad to leave you, I could tell. She had curly brown hair, white skin, sunken eyes-”  
“Where is she?” Toby asked.  
William sighed. “I don’t know.”  
“How are we going to find her?” Toby wondered sadly.  
“I’ll think of something. I just have to remember where she headed off when she left. If I can remember that- Oh, I don’t know. But I saw her, Toby, for a minute. You look so much like her, from what I noticed.” William replied.  
Toby sighed and sat on the floor. “Well, this is great…”  
“Don’t give up, Toby. Somehow, I know we can find her. Your brothers and sisters can help us out.” William said.  
“Yeah, they can. But will they?” Toby asked.  
“They will. I swore on the day I found you that I would protect you and help you, and they swore that they would do anything to help us out.” William responded, taking Toby’s hand. “Come on, kid, stand up.”  
Toby slowly rose and William hugged him.  
“I couldn’t be more proud to be a father to you, Toby. But out there, somewhere, you have a mother who would love to have you back, because she didn’t have a choice when she gave you up because something plagued her. But I think eleven years must be enough time to face your demons.”  
Toby hugged William back, leaning his head on one of his strong shoulders. “I love you, dad.”  
“I love you, too, son.” William replied, kissing the top of Toby’s head. “Now, we’ll start looking for your mother first thing in the morning. You need sleep to be at your best, okay?”  
Toby nodded. William tousled his hair.


End file.
